This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250.
America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. What's up y'all?
Summer's got a different tempo. Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer.
Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be. It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit. conversations stretch out, little memories sneak up on you.
Sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. that color. That chill, the new tropical butterfly refresher from Starbucks. guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearls. Yeah.
That feels like summer before you even taste it. Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm with Starbucks. Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. Eczema.
is unpredictable. But you can blare less with F-gless. A once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about four in ten people taking EPGLIS achieve itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.
EPGLIS, Librachizumab, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EPGLIS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur.
Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EBGLIS. Before starting EPGLIS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Ask your doctor about EBGLIS and visit ebglis.lilly.com or call 1-800-LILIRX or 1-800-545-5979. And we continue with our American stories.
Danny Elfman came to prominence as the lead vocalist and songwriter. For the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s, as seen in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Back to School. Since scoring his first studio album in 1985, Elfman has composed over 100 feature film scores like Batman, Beetlejuice, Men in Black, and Goodwill Hunting, to name a few. as well as compositions for TV shows like The Simpsons and other work as well. Here to share his story is the man himself.
Danny Elfman. Let's take a listen. Music came to me very late in life. I didn't grow up. with music around me.
By the time I was in middle school, I was pretty certain I wanted to pursue a career in nuclear biology. Although I'm sure I wouldn't have lasted long in that, but it just seemed like a cool thing back then. And really the luck part was that my parents moved from one neighborhood to another in Los Angeles between middle school and high school. And so I started high school with No friends. had to make new friends from scratch.
and I happened to fall in with a kind of an arty group. And I realized that I'm like The only one in this group that doesn't play an instrument. I was like the non-musical member, but. in that group of friends was A trumpet player named Michael Byron. And he turned me on to Strabinski.
And suddenly it was like. a whole new world for me. And Strabinski led to For Kofi off. The Kofioth led to Shostakovich, led to Bartok, led to, you know, and then. Before I knew it, I was really.
I know when I when I first time I heard Prokofiov, I felt like This is just music from my blood. And, you know, I have Russian roots. But I knew nothing of Russian music, and somehow it just felt like it was just connecting. on this uh deep kind of cellular level. And um So two and a half years of high school.
I didn't quite finish. But uh I had planned to travel around the world with a friend. and I decided I will secretly pick up an in instrument and try to learn it. And so we both brought on this world travel. He bought an Alto Saxon, I bought a violin.
Also, during that period of time, I became infatuated with a 30s jazz artist named Django Reinhart. But I ended up, by another coincidence, starting off this world travel in Paris because my brother lived there. Quite randomly, and I was practicing in his apartment one day, and I'd only been playing for about five months. The director had come in while I was practicing. When I came out, he goes, Why don't you come with us on the road?
And I got me? I was like, I'm I can't play. He goes, Yeah, you're good enough for us. And uh and I did. and I did my first performing and wrote my actually first couple of pieces.
One year before that moment, I had never even picked up an instrument. And by the time I came back, my brother had started a musical theatrical troupe. modeled after the group that I toured with in France, which was called Le Grand Magic Circus. and he started a group called the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Even though I arrived very ill with hepatitis and malaria and number of other things he does.
It's okay, you can take a couple of days off, then I'll bring you to rehearsals and you can start. You'll be our musical director. That's how I started in music. In the six, seven years I spent with the theater group, we actually started getting better and better musically. Went from eight to twelve pieces, and everybody had to play three instruments.
So we could be a string ensemble, a brass ensemble, or a percussion ensemble. And it was a very weird group. But in the string and brass stuff, I did a lot of I was still infatuated with 30s jazz. And I wanted to do arrangements of early Duke Ellington work from about 1932-33. And I figured the only way I'm going to get it right is to learn how to write it down.
So, transcribing Duke Ellington was my first time writing. on paper. Mm. And at the end of those seven years, I wrote my first very ambitious piece. Uh it was about a six, seven minute 12 written for, you know, everybody in the group.
and I called it the Oinga Boinga Piano Concerto number one and a half. But uh It was kind of inspired by bits of Prokofiov and bits of Stravinsky and Uh and it was my first time writing, in fact, you know, like a small chamber work. And after that, I disbanded completely and started a rock band. I don't suck by life. And walk down the street.
I was hit by something last night. It's a dead man's party. Who could ask for more? Everybody's coming. Leave your body at the door.
Leave your body and soul at the door. Don't run away. And then years, five years after that. Tim Burton brings me into Pee Wee Speak Adventure.
So I almost said no, but I remembered writing that one piece. The uh That last piece I wrote for the Mystic Knights. And I said, well, if I can write for 12 pieces, I can write for an orchestra. It's not that different because you know, I finally thought about it and I said, you know, it's a 65-piece orchestra now, but I'm not writing 65 individual parts. You got your first violins, second violins, and I said Yep.
And I just decided, I'm just gonna take a chance and do it. But I knew nothing about that either. never dreamed of becoming a film composer. I was Just Lot of random accidents in my life. And uh I just Had so much fun writing Peebies Big Adventure.
That I said, oh, I'm gonna do it. And it's also the first time I ever stood in front of an orchestra, and the sound. Was so amazing. It was pretty addictive. I think, right at that moment, I was like, I want to do this.
So, for ten years, I was both in a rock band. writing and producing and uh performing and touring and But I tried to get in two films every year around my fan schedule so I could learn.
So, in those first 10 years, I did a number of albums and tours, but I also tried to get 20. film scores. in there more or less. Yeah. And you've been listening to Danny Elfman tell one heck of a story about his life, and if one word comes to mind for me, it's serendipity.
He just wanted to learn an instrument to tour the world. And he picked up the violin. And while practicing in Paris in his brother's apartment, some guy, random guy, walks in and says, Hey, come join the band. And he goes, I haven't been playing long. You're good enough.
The man said, and he was good enough, and he kept on going, one band, another band. all of it, by the way, sparked by one composer, Stravinsky. and then the call from Tim Burton himself, the legend. And as he put it, I never dreamed. of being a film composer.
When we come back, more of this remarkable story. The story of Danny Elfman here. on Our American Stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years.
And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q.
That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks.
Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. Eczema. as unpredictable. But you can flare less with ebb glist. a once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema.
After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about 4 in 10 people taking EBGLIS achieve it for a clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing. EBGLIS, Libriquizumab, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EBGLIS.
Allergic reactions can occur that could be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EBGLIS. Before starting EBGLIS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.
Ask your doctor about EBGLIS and visit ebglis.lily.com or call 1-800-LILIRX or 1-800-545-5979. This is Ashley Canetti from the Bed and Ashley Eye Almost Samus podcast. You know what's become a literal nightmare lately? International travel. Why sit on a plane for 14 hours to get to Lake Como when you could be having the time of your life at Caesars Republic in beautiful Lake Tahoe.
Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe has it all. The splendor of Lake Como without all the unmagical moments that come with international travel. It's all there. Amazing dining options with restaurants like Wolf by Vanderpump and Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen. Incredible entertainment.
Some of the biggest names in music already lined up for this year's Lake Tahoe summer concerts. Plus, relaxing spa experiences, breathtaking views, and non-stop excitement throughout your entire stay. Spend your days enjoying the pristine lake and natural surroundings, and the nights enjoying the incredible restaurants and world-class casino. And don't forget all of this right in your backyard, Caesars Republic, Lake Tahoe, book today. And we continue with our American stories and with Danny Elfman's story, beginning with his theme for the 1989 Batman movie starring Michael Keaton.
So, for ten years, I was both in a rock band. writing and producing and uh performing and touring and But I tried to get in two films every year around my band schedule so I could learn.
So, in those first 10 years, I did a number of albums and tours, but I also tried to get twenty film scores. in there more or less You know, this was 1985. There wasn't MIDI notation or anything like that yet.
So I would kind of Attempt the best I could to play parts into a tape recorder to play for the director because I wasn't a pianist. And also, Tim, you know, and other directors, they want to hear, they were getting to the point in the old days, Bernard Herman would just play on piano for Alfred Hitchcock. Here's your themes, here's Okos, but they wanted to hear more of what it's going to sound like.
So I started getting cheap sample synthesizers to kind of mock up strings and brass, and I found myself recording. all the parts. and getting the queue approved. And eventually, after a couple of scores, I realized that I'm mocking up the entire queue. Before the director signs off on it, and then when he finally does.
I'm going back to square one and writing all of it down. And it's true, I was working 16 hours a day. Seven days a week. It was crazy.
So that was my first 10 years, was very intensive training, and also was still in the band during those 10 years.
So it was just insane. But slowly. I built up my confidence. I mean, I just just, you'd look at me, and I was covered with eraser. Dust.
You know, it was just my hands were cramping, and I had tons of pencils, and I had my custom music paper made, and my knees, I'd look at a certain way, and just I was just going through erasers after erasers. And so I was very happy when the MIDI notation happened, and then I would just put a lot of work into creating the full fleshed-out. Uh version And then being able to get the MIDI To print out, that I could then take it the next step there. And my 16-hour days then went down to nice, easy. 11-12-hour days.
You see, so stumbling into the Simpsons theme was much just like winning a lottery or something, in the sense that. Um all right. In Oingo Boingo, Uh we did a show one night and got this terrible review in the LA Reader by a critic named Matt Roeing. And it was such a nasty review that I took exception because normally I loved our bad reviews. And like the worse the better.
That was energy. Bad reviews and criticism and negative energy always provided a huge. Fuel source. That was my atomic fuel. That's what kept me going.
That's what motivated me. Um But in this one case, I really took exception because he admitted in the review that. He only saw the on cars. He missed the show. And I wrote this letter back saying: if you're gonna say what you're gonna say, that's fine, but you gotta sit through the show.
going to write then review.
So They printed the rebuttal. as the years go by, I start seeing this comic in the LA Weekly called Life in Hell. Is it that? Matt Groening. He's that.
who did that review. But I like this comic, and I hated the fact that I really liked what he was doing, which means he had talent. Because when you really don't like somebody, you don't like them to be talented. You like them to be talentless hacks, and clearly he had talent.
So now it's many years later. And I get a call. There's a show, it's called The Simpsons. It's an animated show, and Matt Groening is the. It's his, he created it.
He wants to meet you. Ah, this would be interesting.
So I go in and You know, we talk and they play a pencil sketch kind of version of the thing. I really liked them. And I liked what they did, and I said, no one's ever going to see this.
So never. make it past, you know, a Couple episodes, but it looks like fun. And I said, if you want something really retro. I'm the guy for it. If you want something contemporary and modern, I'm really the wrong one because I saw it and it just really brought me back to Hanna-Barbera, the Flintstones.
In fact, the opening kind of has a Flintstone energy to it, you know, going to work and the car driving and the whole thing. And I grew up on the Flintstones.
So I said, I think it should be like in that. Mode. That, you know, should feel like that kind of weird sixties T V thing, and Matt was like, Yeah. Cool. And um as I'm leaving We shake hands, he goes, By the way, you probably don't remember, but I say, Yeah, I remember.
Ha ha ha! Yeah. And he goes. We're cool now? He goes, Yeah, we're cool.
And, um,. I rode it in the car on the way home. Literally, I wrote the whole thing in the car on the way home. And um I got it. Call back the next day saying, we love it.
And then a few weeks later I was in the with the orchestra recording it. I just have to keep challenging myself. After 10 years, now I'm just a film composer. and it was starting to get frustrating. Because the thing is, I love writing for film.
But it's also very You can't write what you want to write. You have to write what serves the film. and so many times I'd be writing a cue for a film And it ends. And go, oh my god. That was just like a minute and a half or two and a half minutes.
And I could have taken that. to eight minutes long. and really enjoyed it. And so There was a point where we started touring live concerts of my film music. It was called Music from the Films of Tim Burton.
and I would look at the audience listening to it, And I remember we were at the Lincoln Center in New York, and somebody came from. The other side, you know, from the opposite side, he says, God killed to get that audience in for our concerts because it was a very enthusiastic audience. And that's where I started thinking. Why not try to write music that bridges between what I do for film and what I love about classical. and just give myself this huge challenge.
And so the first piece was for American Composers' Orchestra in Uh Carnegie Hall. And that was great. And I did a few more, and then it wasn't until eight years ago. that I decided I'm writing a violin concerto, my first. and I'm gonna do a piece every year, which means I'm gonna s start saying no to paid work, but it felt right because I knew it was going to take my income down.
significantly, but yet I did so well as a film composer, it felt like I should be giving it back also on the other side and keeping myself sharp. writing the classical, the concert music. It's so much harder. infinitely harder for me. than writing a film score.
And you've been listening to Danny Elfman tell the story of his life. And my goodness, the story of how he got to compose the score for The Simpsons, we all can learn a lot from it. It turns out he gets the call from the very man who gave his band a terrible review. in an LA newspaper, and worse, he hadn't even really seen the full show. And of course, we learned from Danny that he got motivated by that kind of thing.
He actually liked the negative review. got him going. And then he gets the call from this same person who had a lot of talent. And he was developing a little show called The Simpsons. And when he meets them, rather than hold a grudge, he basically lays down the law.
If you want retro, I'm your man. If you want modern, I'm not. and we are all blessed with that remarkable score And Danny burying the hatchet. on this guy who ripped him in public. When we come back, More of the story.
of Danny Elfman here on Our American Stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250.
America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with Epglis.
a once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about four in ten people taking EBGLIS achieved itch relate and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing. EBGLIS, Libriquizumap, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids.
Don't use if you're allergic to EBGLIS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EBGLIS.
Before starting EBGLIS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Ask your doctor about EBGLIS and visit ebglis.lily.com or call 1-800-LILIRX or 1-800-545-5979. This is Ashley Canetti from the Ben and Ashley Eye Almost Samus podcast. You know what's become a literal nightmare lately? International travel.
Why sit on a plane? 14 hours to get to Lake Como when you could be having the time of your life at Caesars Republic in beautiful Lake Tahoe. Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe has it all. The splendor of Lake Como without all the unmagical moments that come with international travel. It's all there.
Amazing dining options with restaurants like Wolf by Vanderpump and Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen. Incredible entertainment.
Some of the biggest names in music already lined up for this year's Lake Tahoe summer concerts. Plus, relaxing spa experiences, breathtaking views, and non-stop excitement throughout your entire stay. Spend your days enjoying the pristine lake and natural surroundings, and the nights enjoying the incredible restaurants and world-class casino. And don't forget all of this right in your backyard, Caesars Republic, Lake Tahoe, booked today. And we continue with our American stories and with Danny Elfman's story as told by Danny Elfman himself.
Beginning in this segment with the score from Tim Burton's 1993 classic. The Nightmare Before Christmas. I used to argue with. This conductor who worked with me in Elfin Breeze goes, Film music is the classical music of today. And I go, No, it's not.
People come to a film music concert to hear music from films they love. You can't take the films away from it. Yeah. have an audience really show up to hear that music. Not only that, but frequently we really have to simplify.
And I'm not allowed to get in. Occasionally, there are scores that can get very dense and elaborate, but it's not often. You know, I'll write a certain thing, and I'm really excited about it. And the director goes, Oh, God, what's that? I go sorry.
Let me just take the counter, take all the dissonance out, take the counter point out. How about now? Oh, it's much better. Thank you.
So It was just the ability to get away from that and really push myself further. it keeps me going because like and when I finished that violin concerto, I felt like it almost killed me, literally. And I um I said, I'll never do it again until the next year when I was offered another piece. I said, sure. And I realized, okay, you know, so it's just like childbirth, you know.
Yeah. My mother, I think, after my brother was born, saying, No more children. But then, you know, you have a cute baby a year later, well, maybe one more. And kind of similar. What you do is you forget.
the painful part. And you remember the fact that I really like how this thing turned out. This, you know, this baby is actually really cute, and the pain. that getting there doesn't seem so intense and then before you know it, it's like We'll do it again. Um I don't actually plan out anything that I write.
I just listen to a lot of music that I really like, and then I start improvising. And I might start with. between eight and twelve short compositions. And then I'll go, okay, so here's a bunch of stuff.
Now let me pause. And go back and look at what was number one, two, three, and start to write a little more. And I'll find that number one, number three, number six, number eight are starting to expand. And now rather than just being like a 30, 40 second idea, now it's, oh, but this is like is developing into something. And I find that certain uh of the pieces tend to just Evolve, and some of them I'm just hitting a dead end, going, no, it was an interesting idea, but it doesn't want to be more than 30 seconds.
You know, it's just a short. idea. And others just take on a life, and then I start focusing on those, and then I see. Can I put these three, four, five pieces together and make a cohesive element? And I think I think Yeah.
All my concerto. My concertos follow the same thing, and I realize I can't get away from it. And it's all because of Shostakovich's first. You know, the first and the fourth movement kind of relate to each other. There's a stylistic Sense of what they are.
and how they develop and move. And the second and the third go this way and this way. You know, the second movement is like insane and the third movement is like so Soulful that it's one of the most soulful things I've ever heard in my life. And yet the second movement almost feels like it could be like. Carl Stalling, like crazy cartoon music.
And so Okay. I'm kind of O C D and I you know get pulled into symmetry. And so the symmetry of one and four speaking to each other, two and three. Going different directions makes perfect sense to me.
So, as often as I try to get away from that, it keeps coming back because there's a symmetry. That's how I put it together. It's really just dive in. and feel my way through it. Don't like think my way through it.
At least for me, that's just how I function. That's how I work with every film score. you know, 110 films. I don't block it all out. I find my major themes.
And I'll pick maybe three or four scenes in the film. And of those scenes, I know I'm going to have my major thematic material. It starts with a heavy push. and a desperation of like, I don't know if I'm going to get it. and I feel like I'm pushing a boulder uphill.
or a train, really, and then at a certain point I've got some momentum going, and now it's kind of coasting along. I'm still pushing, but it's a lot easier pushing because now it's starting to, and then if I'm lucky. It's going to start downhill. And now I'm holding on. That's the parts that I long for.
Because I don't know what's gonna Suddenly, something happens. Like, I don't know what that is, but I'm not going to question it. It's happening for a reason. I'm just going to let it. Go, and that's the fun part.
It's like now I'm following the piece of music rather than. Making it fit in an exact framework that I had pre-intended. But I do try to think of how will the musician play this. And or is it even playable? And sometimes I have to go to the musicians and go, Is this thing I'm thinking of even playable?
And they'll say either yes or no, but if you make a slight alteration here, You know, certainly when I'm doing concertos, You know, I'm working with the soloists in that regard. You know, it's like there's, they'll be like, well, this particular fingering. Is not quite possible, but if I finger it like this and this, and at first I thought, oh, that's horrible, I'm not doing my job, and then my violinist. Said Let me show you Brahm's violin concerto with what guyem his notes. all over the place.
And that, you know, I love the fact that Wakaim would go back and go, XX, you know, like that, X stuff out. And some of those Brahms just ignore. I know you don't like it, but it's him. And she said, trust me, they work with their musicians, even Shostakovich. Yes, I said, okay, if Brahms and Shostakovich are working with their players to give them corrections and ideas, then I don't have to feel bad about it.
But you know, sometimes I just have to get input. Especially if I'm writing piano parts, there occasionally I'll write these little songs. You know, look, for these two bars, I need three hands. Oh, yeah, right, I can see that. And again, I'm just trying to challenge myself.
It's just. You know, it's like you keep yourself. Moving. Or you become you die, artistically, become a relic. And I know that I'm at that point where I could rest on my laurels and films that people like, and I don't have to do anything more.
But I'm not ready to do that. And so, you know. I I'm loving the fact that I'm at this weird place in my life. where I can go from playing the cello concerto with Gautier Capison. fly back to the US and within two weeks be on stage at Coachella.
With an electric guitar on me. And I go, this is insane. I don't know if anybody's got the pleasure. Of, like, literally going from Vienna concert stage of the world premiere of a cello concerto to the rock and roll stage, well, barely 10 days later. That kind of extreme juxtaposition is what I love.
And so I'm not the most famous composer. I'm far from the most famous rock and roll artist. I'm far from. Most famous film composer, but I get to do all these things simultaneously in a way that I don't know if anybody else has quite had the same experience. And so I'm just considering myself blessed to be having this.
opportunity for this moment in my life. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to the Library of Congress. for doing what it does. All the people who work there, if you've ever been to Washington, D.C.
and you visited the Library of Congress, you know what a remarkable building it is. But what's inside?
Well, you'll see researchers there, students there, people of all kinds trying to find or source some aspect of American history or American life. Visit the nation's capital, so much of our history is locked there. A special thanks to Danny Elfman too for sharing this story because it's such a remarkable story. This last chapter. that he wants to create this new kind of music that bridges great scores.
And he toured with a musical tour with Tim Burton's music and loved it. But he thought, well, this isn't really classical music. Please don't say it is. But how can I bridge the gap between classical compositions and these scores? And of course, he does it.
And manages to do it in a very unique style. He plays and then he writes. And that reminds us of Duke Ellington. We told a beautiful story about Duke on this show with the great Terry Teachout. And that's what Duke Ellington did.
He'd let his band play, and then he'd write, and then he'd tell them to try something else, and he'd piece it together. And it was a unique way. to be a composer. And it was the Ellington Way before it was the Elfman Way. And at the end, look at his work and his body of work: Betelgeuse, Batman, Men in Black, Goodwill Hunting, The Simpsons, so many more.
Plus being a rock guitarist for a big band, plus playing in string quartets, a unique life. A brilliant life. Yes, he said, I'm not the most famous composer. I'm not a rock and roll guitar legend. I am not the most famous classical composer.
But he may just be, Danny Elfman, the only guy who can lay claim to being great. at all three and doing all three simultaneously. The Story of Danny Elfman. here on Our American Stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans.
It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues.
Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a camp-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history.
It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. What's up, cousin? I want a new phone. Have you seen any good deals?
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